Evaluating performance of cloud computing environments

The emerging technology of cloud computing offers off-premise, reliable solutions for common IT related needs of enterprises, but as different providers often envision these solutions in a different way, architects face a complex problem when trying to decide which provider to choose and compare or estimate the costs of different options. This paper presents a generalized, provider-neutral service and cost model to describe the capabilities of different environments and the prices associated with them. This model can serve as the basis for mathematical optimization algorithms.